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A fossil that had been languishing in a museum drawer in Brighton, wrongly labeled as a shark fin skeleton, has now been identified as an entirely new species of prehistoric flying reptile that soared majestically over what are now marshes of the Cambridgeshire.
Roy Smith, a PhD student at the University of Portsmouth, identified the creature after realizing it was far more unusual and interesting than the label suggested. He identified the fossil as the beak tip of a new species of pterosaur (from the Greek “winged lizard”), a creature that existed 228 to 66 million years ago and the first vertebrate known to have evolved in powered flight.
Pterosaurs with this type of beak have been found in North Africa, so Smith and others who have studied the find say it is reasonable to assume a resemblance to the alanqa, a scary-looking creature thought to have a wingspan of 4. meters or more.
Smith discovered the creature during a trawl net of fossil collections housed in the Booth Museum in Brighton. The fossils were originally unearthed by workers looking for phosphates in the swamps in the 19th century, who sold them for a little extra money.
It was while Smith was examining the fossils of what had been labeled shark fin spines that he realized that some of them were actually fragments of pterosaur jaws or beaks. They resemble shark fin spines but with crucial differences.
Smith said: “One of these features are tiny holes where nerves come to the surface and are used for sensitive feeding by the pterosaurs. Shark fin spines do not have these characteristics, but early paleontologists clearly lacked these characteristics.
“Two of the specimens discovered can be identified as a pterosaur called an ornithostoma, but an additional specimen is clearly distinct and represents a new species. It is a paleontological mystery. “
Smith, 26, from Derbyshire, has been hunting fossils since he was a boy, but this is by far his most exciting discovery.
“Unfortunately, this specimen is too fragmented to be the basis for naming the new species. Unfortunately, it is doubtful whether any more remains of this pterosaur will be discovered, as there are no more exhibits of the rock from which the fossils come. But I hope other museum collections can contain more examples. ”As soon as Covid’s restrictions are lifted, he plans to continue his search for others.
Smith’s supervisor, Prof. Dave Martill said, “The beak piece is tempting in that it is small and simply differs from the ornithostome in a subtle way, perhaps in the way a great egret might differ from a heron. Differences in life would have had more to do with color, call, and behavior than skeleton.
“It is extremely exciting to have discovered this mysterious pterosaur right here in the UK. This find is significant because it adds to our knowledge of these fascinating ancient prehistoric flying reptiles, but also demonstrates that such discoveries can be made by simply re-examining material in old collections. “
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